Social and Political Life in the Vijayanagara Empire (A.D. 1346 – A.D. 1646) v1.c13.s5.44

v1.c13.s5.44

That Nuniz is accurate in his statement concerning the punishment given to culprits under the feet of elephants, is evident from the remarks of 'Abdur Razzāq, who writes thus: "Sometimes they order criminals to be cast down before the feet of an elephant, that they may be killed by its knees, trunk, and tusks".⁵ The sculptures in the ruins of the capital amply prove the assertions of these two foreign witnesses. In decreeing this inhuman penalty on persons who had committed grave offences, the rulers of Vijayanagara seem to have exchanged the precepts of the ancient and mediaeval canonists for the methods of the Muhamadan monarchs. Punishment under an elephant does not [This page is blank]